Seattle Tattler

The real story of Seattle's culture industry!

Thursday, December 15, 2005

Frank Blethen - Born to Be Rich

Seattle Times publisher Frank A. Blethen is a Seattle rich kid who has been rather annoying to me over the years. When I first arrived here, I wondered why the headlines in the Times invariably had something to do with Boeing selling another jet. I mean, who cares if some quasi-local multinational corporation sells another freakin' 747 to Saudi Arabia? Not interesting.

Boeing beats Airbus in big dealAustralian airline Qantas announced a firm order for 45 Boeing 787 jets, worth more than $8 billion at list prices. Lead Story, - The Seattle Times - 12.14.2005

These days the PR his rag rehashes comes from Microsoft too, but that's another story.

Alleged Union-Busting, Whiskey-Swilling, Bong-Toking Frank Blethen

Frank endorsed G.W. Bush for president in hopes of getting the inheritance tax reworked. He wanted to make sure he would be able to pass on the free ride he got handed to by his elders on to his own offspring.

His constant claims that the Seattle Times Company has been losing money for years are laughable - simply a ploy to try and weasel out of the Joint Operating Agreement with the Seattle P-I. Follow the money trail and you'll see that Blethen and his family own a chain of newspapers, stocks, bonds, and real estate, some of which was just sold to Paul Allen at a huge profit.

And yet he's an indie media activist! Much like disgraced former police chief Norm Stamper has recast himself as a bearded hippie drug legalization advocate peacenik, Blethen has created an underdog persona. It's that whole "family owned newspaper" hogwash. A very wealthy, powerful family dude!